The present invention relates generally to cotton harvesters, and more specifically to a device for compacting and controlling the dumping of cotton i the basket of such harvesters.
A typical cotton harvester includes an overhead receptacle or basket supported on a mobile frame. An air system is used to blow harvested cotton from harvesting unit mounted at the forward end of the frame upwardly and rearwardly to the forward top portion of the basket. Under most conditions, the rear of the basket generally fills the quickest, with the forward end of the basket filling the last. The cotton is highly compressible and therefore to provide maximum basket capacity, a compacting device is typically used to compress the cotton. Previous compacting devices have included bars pivotally connected near the upper forward end of the basket and pivotable about a transverse axis to compress the cotton as it rises in the basket. Such devices are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,422,751 and 3,412,532. In another type of structure, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,215,291, a vane assembly is pivotally connected near the bottom of the basket for rocking about a transversely extending axis. The vane is normally in a position away from the cotton inlet and when cotton begins to block the rear grates, the vane is rocked toward the inlet and returned to the original position.
The previously available basket arrangements with the pivoting tines suffered from several shortcomings. When there is a variation in the amount of cotton compacted along the length of the vane, the rocking of the tines is limited by the area of the largest loading while the areas which are not so heavily loaded will not be compacted to the same degree. The transverse orientation of the tines can often interfere with the proper distribution of the cotton in the basket as the cotton is delivered from the air ducts. The basket will not fill properly unless the operator carefully controls the device while the cotton basket fills.
Another problem arises with present basket systems when the basket is dumped into a trailer or module builder. At times a full basket is not needed to complete the load in the trailer or module builder, and cotton often spills since it is very difficult to dump only the needed amount of cotton. At other times a partial dump is needed on each end of the trailer or module builder. Since the dump cannot be accurately controlled, distributing the cotton after the dumping process is required and this is difficult and time-consuming.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved compacting and dump controlling device for a cotton harvester basket.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a compacting device for a cotton harvester which does not interfere with the cotton as it is delivered from the air ducts. It is a further object to provide such a device which requires a minimum amount of operator attention during the basket loading process.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a compacting device which does not stall as a result of the basket filling at a differential rate along the length of the compacting device.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a compacting and dump controlling device for a cotton harvester which provides a better distribution of cotton when dumped and a less chance of cotton falling on the ground during the dumping process. It is still another object to provide such a device which permits a partial basket load to be dumped into a trailer or module builder.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cotton harvester basket with at least two compactor fork assemblies which may be rocked back and forth with respect to the sidewalls generally in unison but which can rock independently of each other when the cotton load is unevenly distributed relative to the compactor assemblies.
In accordance with the above objects a pair of independently rockable compactor fork assemblies is pivotally connected for rocking about axially aligned and fore-and-aft extending pivots located between the front and rear ends of the cotton receptacle. Each compactor fork assembly is connected to a separate hydraulic cylinder and the two cylinders are plumbed in parallel so that the compactor forks act in the same direction when activated but can pivot independently with respect to each other so that uneven loads can be compressed with substantially uniform pressure from front to rear. During dumping when the basket is pivoted toward one side of the implement, the compactor forks may be pivoted to compress a partial load of the cotton towards one side of the wall and prevent it from falling into the trailer or module builder. After a portion of the load is dumped, the implement may be repositioned and the compactor vanes released to permit the remainder of the cotton to fall into the trailer or module builder.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the description which follows and from the drawings.